Inngest Has a Free API You're Not Using

Inngest is a durable workflow engine for TypeScript. It handles retries, scheduling, and event-driven functions — without managing queues or workers.

The Free APIs You're Missing

1. Event-Driven Functions

import { inngest } from "./client";

export const processSignup = inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "process-signup" },
  { event: "user/signup" },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    const user = await step.run("create-user", async () => {
      return await db.users.create({ data: event.data });
    });

    await step.run("send-welcome", async () => {
      await sendEmail(user.email, "Welcome!");
    });

    await step.sleep("wait-3-days", "3d");

    await step.run("send-onboarding", async () => {
      await sendEmail(user.email, "How to get started");
    });
  }
);

2. step.run — Durable Steps with Auto-Retry

Each step.run is individually retriable. If step 3 fails, steps 1 and 2 don't re-execute.

3. step.waitForEvent — Pause for External Events

export const checkoutFlow = inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "checkout" },
  { event: "cart/checkout" },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    await step.run("reserve-inventory", () => reserveItems(event.data.items));

    const payment = await step.waitForEvent("wait-for-payment", {
      event: "payment/completed",
      match: "data.orderId",
      timeout: "30m",
    });

    if (!payment) {
      await step.run("release-inventory", () => releaseItems(event.data.items));
      return { status: "expired" };
    }

    await step.run("fulfill-order", () => fulfillOrder(event.data.orderId));
    return { status: "completed" };
  }
);

4. Scheduled Functions — Cron

export const dailyCleanup = inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "daily-cleanup" },
  { cron: "0 2 * * *" },
  async ({ step }) => {
    const deleted = await step.run("cleanup", () => db.sessions.deleteExpired());
    return { deleted: deleted.count };
  }
);

5. Fan-Out — Parallel Execution

export const batchProcess = inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "batch-process" },
  { event: "batch/start" },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    const items = event.data.items;

    // Process all items in parallel
    const results = await Promise.all(
      items.map((item, i) =>
        step.run(`process-${i}`, () => processItem(item))
      )
    );

    await step.run("summarize", () => createSummary(results));
  }
);

Getting Started

npm install inngest
npx inngest-cli@latest dev

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